Super Nintendo, NES & GameBoy tomfoolery;

When I compared the NES and the Gameboy versions of Double Dragon, it turned out they were approximately the same game -- sometimes the Gameboy version did things more like the Arcade version than the NES version, but it was definitely recognizable. Even the in-game story was identical (such as it is):

(NES Double Dragon story)

(Gameboy Double Dragon story)

But when it comes to the NES and Gameboy games called Double Dragon II, this is not the case.

(one of these things is not like the other one of these things)

For starters, they each have several screens-worth of story, but the only thing they have in common is "Billy and Jimmy, the Double Dragons":

(The Beater's Digest version of the NES story)

Whereas, here's the entire Gameboy story:

This story is only ten sentences and two dialogs long, and its still full of plot holes;

At very least, who is the Wright fellow that Anderson shot?

(probably not this)

But leaving all that aside, the levels, enemies, and most importantly, the beat-em-up mechanics are radically different. It's not nearly-the-same with a few key tweaks, like Double Dragon. Instead I'll go through five elements of beating-em-up, to show how when the NES game zigs, the Gameboy game zags.

Then for my next trick, I'll talk about which Technos beat-em-up has a much greater fighting-mechanic overlap with the Gameboy Double Dragon II.

1. Punches and Kicks ...it's all in the mind

NES: The A and B buttons change function based on the direction your character is facing: press the button in the direction he's facing, and you get the standard punch.